Aerial toy



Jan. 31, 1961 B. P. KOWALSKI AERIAL TOY Filed Jam. 14, 1959 ArmeA EY United States Patent AERIAL TOY Bronislaw P. Kowalski, 358 Chapin St., Ludlow, Mass.

Filed Jan. 14, 1959, Ser. No. 786,795

1 Claim. (Cl. 46-85) This invention relates to a flying toy, and it particularly relates to a mechanical toy having a member adapted to be propelled into aerial flight.

There have heretofore been various types of flying toys propelled into flight by means of movement along a spiral rod. However, these prior devices never were capable of attaining any substantial heights or speeds and, as a mater of fact, were designed more for indoors than for outdoor use. With todays emphasis on height and speed, these prior devices have lost their attraction to children and even grown-up who are now used to thinking in terms of great heights and even space flight.

It is one object of the present invention to overcome the above difliculties and disadvantages by providing a toy device adapted to be helically propelled into greater heights and at greater speeds than previously attainable with such types of mechanisms.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy device of the above type which is simple in construction and easy to manipulate.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy which is highly instructive relative to the aerodynamic problems of lift, thrust, drag, stressing, etc.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide an improved toy, of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which is highly efiicient in operation.

With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fullyunderstood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a device embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring in greater detail to the drawing, wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts, there is shown a toy, generally designated 10, comprising a spiral rod 12 having a series of spiral turns along the length thereof. These spiral turns are constructed to grow progressively smaller from the lower end 140i the rod to the upper end 16. As illustrated, the rod here used is one wherein the lead progresses from one turn in two inches at the lower end to two turns in one inch at the upper end of the rod 12, which measures ap proximately 14 inches from one end to the other.

Slidably and telescopically movable over the rod 12 is an actuating sleeve 18 above which is adapted to be positioned a flyer 20. This flyer 20 comprises a hub portion 22 provided at its center with an elongated slit 24 through which the rod 12 is adapted to extend. Extending out from the hub 22 are three equally-spaced blades 26 bent at approximately a 20 angle from the plane of the hub 22 and measuring about 40 from tip Patented Jan. 31, 1961 to tip of their respective curved outer peripheral edges. The leading edges of the blades 26 are straight while the trailing edges are concavely curved. They are also, when constructed according to the aforementioned dimensions, preferably about .020 inch thick. These various dimensions are, of course, given for illustrative purposes and can be varied where desired and feasible.

In the operation of the device, the sleeve 18 is slid down to the lower end of the rod 12 and the flyer 20 is then slid down on the rod to a position overlying the top of the sleeve 18 (as shown in Fig. l). The sleeve 18 is then given a sudden upward thrust carrying the flyer 20 along with it. As the flyer 20 moves along the rod 12, it rotates along the spiral track formed on the rod 12 and this rotation progressively increases in speed as the spiral track becomes increasingly of smaller turns. Finally, when the flyer 20 leaves the upper end 16 of the rod 12 it is propelled at relatively great speed in a vertical direction. This vertical free flight may reach about 200 feet or more. It may then sail horizontally with the wind for about 400 feet or more.

The progressive spiral feature of this invention acts to increase the revolutions of the flyer while it moves along the rod at least five-fold over the prior types of toys where the spiral was constant, thereby creating that much more dynamic lift. Furthermore, the three-bladed flyer is designed to soar into the atmosphere with a flywheel eflect, thereby creating the least permissible amount of drag and the greatest amount of lift.

The above described toy can be packaged along with instructions pertaining to the various aspects of aerodynamic mechanics such as lift, thrust, drag, gravity, stress, etc. and would therefore be a most educational and inspiring toy.

The device may be constructed of any desirable material such as metal, wood or plastic.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

An aerial toy flyer formed from sheet material in a single plane, said flyer comprising a central disc-shaped hub portion having an elongated rectangular diametrical slit of a length less than the hub diameter, the slit being adapted to fit about a helical rod rectangular in cross section, the flyer being adapted to be rotated by and projected upwardly from the helical rod by pressure applied against the bottom side of said hub portion, three identical equi-angular blades integrally extending radially from and secured only to said hub, a straight radial leading edge on each blade on a radius from said hub and extending at an angle of approximately 20 up from the plane of said hub, a concavely curved trailing edge on each blade extending at an angle below the plane of the hub substantially equal to the leading edge angle, the peripheral edges of said blades being circumferential and measuring approximately 40 between the tips of their leading and trailing edges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 296,271 Pistoja Apr. 1, 1884 991,138 Coe May 2, 1911 995.562 Plewes June 20, 1911 2,253,066 Dowell Aug. 19, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 21,457 Great Britain 1893 

